Fallen Heroes
by calliope821
Summary: It started out as a rescue mission. But when it mattered most, there was nobody to come to their rescue. They couldn't do anything but watch...
1. Living Nightmare

**A/N: set in an AU/possible future of the Young Justice TV series. I do not own anything except the plot; all names, characters, et cetera, belong to DC. Rated T for character death and some minor violence, but no language. Enjoy! **

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><p>M'gann closed her eyes as if that would make the terrible scene before her vanish like a nightmare. Two opposing forces faced each other across the deck of the freighter: her team, missing two, against a host of armed and armored gunmen. Neither side moved, as if time were frozen; and at the head of the army, a massive human towered over them all and leered down at the four young heroes… and held a struggling Robin by the throat, pressing a gun between his shoulder blades and making sure his teammates could see.<p>

This was no dream; this was real. Reality had become the nightmare; and unbearable guilt threatened to overwhelm her with the thought that it was all her fault. Emotions swirled inside her like a hurricane: fear, dread, hopelessness, worry, and above all that awful _guilt_—ripping her sanity to pieces and devouring all hope she might have had. She wanted to throw herself into the ocean's abyss and let the water claim her forever, rather than face the horror she knew was in store for her, for all of them.

_My friends need me, _she thought, holding on to her last shred of sanity. _Robin needs me. It's my fault for not stopping him, my fault he was captured…_ she owed it to him to get him out of this mess, but despair filled her, because she knew she could only hope to fail. _I have to try. _

"… Anyone have any idea who _these _goons are?" she heard Artemis say, hearing her as if through a badly tuned radio, distant and meaningless.

"New recruits for the Light, most likely," said Wally, equally distant. M'gann wanted to scream at them, _what does it matter?_ This wasn't a routine mission, a lame recon stunt. Why were they treating it like a game?

Conner reached over to take her hand, trying to calm her through their mental link. She'd thought she was being careful about what she let him see and hear through it, but her control was slipping, and she could tell he'd seen enough to be disturbed by her thoughts. _It's going to be okay, Megan. Trust me, we're _all _taking this seriously. _His thoughts left a grim flavor in her mind.

_We've never faced anything like this before, _she thought, _and there's no hope of help from the League or anyone else. It's just us… _the hopelessness of these thoughts threatened to crush her under their weight; she felt herself slipping out of awareness, her mind starting to shut down in an attempt to stem the flow of so many negative emotions.

_Stay with us, Megan, _Conner urged, gripping her hand more tightly and trying to steady her with his own mind. _This isn't over, whatever advantages they've got. _

She jerked her hand away from his, shutting him out from her mind. He looked at her strangely, confused, concerned and a little hurt; it had been rude to cut the link without warning him, but an idea had taken her by surprise and she didn't want him to know what she was planning. He would try to stop her. _But it has to be done. I can't let them kill Robin. _

Now Artemis and Wally were exchanging words with the enemy. Once she would have listened, joined in, but she left them to it. It gave her the perfect chance to set her plan in motion—which she had to do quickly, before any shots were fired or blows exchanged instead of words. Cautiously, she reached out with her mind to make contact with the giant who was threatening Robin with his gun. The last thing she wanted to do was share thoughts with this monstrous human, but she had no choice if she wanted to save Robin. If violence broke out between the two parties, her team would be overwhelmed for sure, and if they tried any trickery they would just get him killed faster. This was the only way.

The human had sensed her hovering at the outskirts of his consciousness. She didn't want to scare him; the sight of that gun pressing into Robin's back was making her sick. She wanted to open up a link with her friend, reassure him that he would be all right, but she didn't dare. So she hovered, waiting for the giant human to speak first.

_Martian, _he growled in a thought-voice that felt like sharp gravel. _I know what you are up to, but you will find that my mind is not so easily entered as others'. Or controlled. Your mental trickery won't work, and will only get your friend killed. _Slowly, mockingly, he moved his finger to the trigger.

_ Stop! _She thought, hoping to overwhelm him with the strength of the mental command. It worked, barely. _I have no mental trickery planned. I wanted to discuss… options… with you. Without the rest of Young Justice knowing._

She felt him laugh inwardly. _So, _he thought with a little surprise and some satisfaction. _You're the mole? Or just a traitor?_

_ Mole? _She wondered in the part of her mind closed to him. Dismissing it, she replied, _I am no traitor. I'm willing to trade: myself for him. Free Robin, let my friends go, and I'll give myself up. _

_ I see… you are being noble. Silly and unprofitable, but to each their own. It is satisfying to know that the bait worked, at least. Very well, I accept your trade. Now get out of my head. _

M'gann withdrew, but as she did she felt a strange shift in their fading connection. _What—_she started to wonder, but then it was gone, and she was alone with her thoughts.

She turned to look at her teammates; as far as she could tell they had not noticed anything strange. That was good; if they even suspected what she had just agreed to they would ruin everything trying to save her, and then Robin was doomed for sure. _It must be done. _Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she stepped forward.

Suddenly all eyes were on her. The giant human looked down at her with smugness in his eyes, while she could feel—but not see—her teammates' questioning glares scorching her back. The faceless soldiers had their expressions hidden by their dark visors, but every head was turned her way.

She ignored them all, and took another step. Another. And another. The dull rhythm of her footfalls drowned out her thoughts, drowned out the impulse to turn back now, save her own skin; she kept walking, inevitably to stand before the giant.

Without opening a link, she projected a single thought to her teammates behind her: _Don't mess this up. Once you can, take Robin and get out of here. _With the thought she sent some of the howling maelstrom of her emotions, to make them realize how important this was to her, to quell their need to rescue her. This was her choice. _Her _sacrifice.

With more courage than she felt, she looked the man squarely in the eyes. "As we agreed," she said for all to hear. He nodded slightly and removed the gun from Robin. She suppressed a sigh of relief; it was working!

But something about the movement of the man's arm as he drew the gun away was wrong; she didn't figure it out until she saw the butt of the gun swinging towards her face. She cried out in alarm and her hands flew up to block it, but she was too slow. The gun slammed into her head, and she crumpled with the force of the giant's strength, unconscious before she hit the ground.


	2. A Terrible Cost

"M'gann!" Conner yelled, crouching low and preparing to spring at the man. _I can take him, _he thought, burning with anger. _He's big, but I'm as strong as Superman. _Just as he was about to charge he felt someone lay a shaking hand on his arm—Artemis. He whirled around and growled, "Let me go! I'm going to rip him to _pieces!_"

"No, you're not!" she snapped, hiding her fear behind rage. "If you attack, the rest of them will shoot. We'll all get killed!"

All eyes—and ears—were trained on them. No one else spoke; the silence unnerved him. He was breathing hard as though he had just finished a fight, but this one hadn't even started yet.

He lowered his voice. "I'm indestructible. They can't kill me with bullets."

"Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed, this isn't about _you, _Superboy. Those guns are pointed at M'gann and Robin. If you as much as move, they're dead."

Conner gave her a scorching glare that would make flowers wilt. She didn't flinch, only returned a look that was as icy as his was burning. "_Stand down_," she said through gritted teeth.

He knew she was right—and hated her for it. He backed down.

The giant man laughed. "Smart move, kiddies. She's absolutely right, if you make a move your friends get it. So don't" – he grinned evilly and cocked his gun – "move."

Conner looked sideways at Artemis and Wally, but without Megan to link their minds there was no way they could communicate. He couldn't remember ever feeling so helpless: every way he turned he hit a dead end.

The man was speaking again. "Your Martian friend arranged this," he said, nudging her limp form with a massive boot. "She insisted that I let the four of you go if she gave herself up as a captive. Lucky for you three, _she _was the objective in the first place. The Light has no interest in the four of you at this time. So, Miss Martian gets her wish… almost." He let go of Robin, who collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. His captor watched, sneering, as Robin crawled to Megan and began shaking her weakly. "Wake up, M'gann," he said, though his voice was so faint Conner doubted the other two could hear. "C'mon, please wake up!"

The giant man kicked him hard in the stomach, and he fell onto his side, coughing and groaning. Conner tensed, and he could sense Artemis and Wally doing the same, but they dared not move. The man reached down with a colossal hand and lifted Robin by his hair; Robin screamed in pain, arms flailing and legs kicking out wildly. The man looked at him coldly, as if he held a pitifully struggling kitten. "Watch closely," he barked at the other three. "We're going to let you go, but first you have to be taught a lesson, so you don't get any ideas about rescue missions. If we catch you again, there will be no mercy." Slowly, deliberately, he strode to the port side railing, so that they had to crane their necks to keep him in view. Never taking his eyes off the three young heroes, he reached past the railing so that Robin, still struggling, dangled over the water; then pressed his gun once more into Robin's back—he pulled the trigger.

Robin's body arced as the bullet ripped through him; he didn't even have a chance to scream. The man released his grip on his hair and he was falling, falling, limp and lifeless as a rag doll, until he struck the waves and slowly sank out of sight. And the ocean claimed him.

"Robin!" Artemis screamed, sinking to the ground and starting to sob. Wally hadn't moved, just stood there, shell-shocked with a horrified look on his face. "No—" the whisper escaped from his lips, "no, no, no. It can't—" he choked on his words as the weight of bitter realization overwhelmed him.

Conner lifted his eyes from the place where Robin had fallen into the water—and met the cold, unfeeling eyes of the giant. He felt his anger boil, lost all control; never mind what Artemis had said, he was going to _kill _him, tear him apart, beat him until he was as broken as their team. He leaped at him, but the giant only grinned and put an arm up lazily to stop him. Conner slammed into the man's outstretched arm, breath driven out of him, and felt the man's hand close around his neck.

"You—will—_PAY!" _Conner gasped, struggling to weaken the man's grip on him, to no avail.

The giant laughed again. "I think not, Superboy. I could crush you with one hand. But I won't. My orders don't involve killing you; you may yet prove useful to the Light. But you are no longer essential. You are… how should I put it… _Outdated."_

With that he tossed the Superboy aside like a throw pillow, sending him careening overboard to land in the water with a colossal _splash._

Suddenly his whole world was white foamy water, rushing sounds in his ears, cold, and confusion. The shock of the unexpected plunge left him with no sense of direction, no idea which way was up. He inhaled impulsively, filling his lungs with water, and began to panic. He was impervious to bullets and behemoth men, but he could still drown. It would take longer for him than a normal person, but he would die in the water if he didn't get air soon.

He almost welcomed it.


	3. No Time to Grieve

**A/N: Firstly, thanks for the awesome reviews! Something I neglected to mention in my disclaimer (just chalk it up to the fact that I wrote it at like one in the morning) is that there is one OC so far in the story, and that is the main villain in the 1st-3rd chapters, known simply as 'the giant'. His backstory will be revealed soon enough; in the meantime, thanks to Illucida for bringing that to my attention. Now, without further ado, I give you chapter three. Please review!**

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><p>Helpless.<p>

For Wally, that had always been just another word he'd never had to use. Thanks to his speed, he'd always been able to worm his way out of any sticky situation he managed to land himself into.

But this was not just a sticky situation. And all the speed in the world wouldn't be enough to get him out of it. All the speed in the world wouldn't be enough to escape the horror and anguish that he felt as he saw his friend murdered.

"No—" the whisper escaped from his lips, "no, no, no. It can't—" he choked on his words as the weight of bitter realization overwhelmed him.

_He's gone. Robin is dead… no, let it be a dream, let it not be real!_

For a second, he let the thought possess him, expected to wake up any minute—but he was not stupid. He knew better. This was _real. _It was all real, every unbearable bit of it. And he was helpless to do anything but stand there: the fastest kid alive, unable to move for grief and pain. Helpless. He knew what it meant now.

Conner threw himself at the giant, a feral war cry escaping his lips. Wally could see how unnerved the gunmen were by the Superboy, how much his formidable strength scared them; but he knew Conner well enough to be able to tell that he wasn't in control. He was letting his anger command him, forgetting the first rule of combat Black Canary had taught them. This battle was still on enemy terms.

Wally knew they couldn't afford to stand still, waiting to be noticed by the gunmen. _There will be time to grieve for Robin, _he thought, gathering what was left of his resolve, _but not now. I have to get Artemis and Megan out of here alive. I'm not losing any more friends today if I can help it._

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Conner being tossed overboard by the giant. _He'll have to fend for himself, _thought Wally._ We'll be joining him soon enough._ Then he sprang into action.

Combat provided him with an outlet he seriously needed. He struck like lightning, so fast that his first victims never saw what hit them. He thrashed out wildly, barreling through the ranks of gunmen and barely dodging round after round of bullets fired at him from every direction. He felt a savage pleasure with each small victory, with whatever pain he could cause, his only revenge for Robin's death.

The two men holding Megan up by the arms were out cold before they had a chance to raise their guns. He didn't slow down, but picked Megan up while still running and sped back across the ship to where he had left Artemis, zigzagging through the ranks of the men. Skidding to a halt, he laid her down next to Artemis and whirled around to face the rest of the army—_never turn your back on your enemy._

Every gun was trained on them now. _What were you _thinking_? _He berated himself. He had done nothing but make the three of them an easier target. Once again, that awful feeling of helplessness threatened to crush him. They were trapped, all because he had made the same mistake Conner had by acting out of rage and revenge. He turned his face away, teeth clenched, waiting for the crack of gunfire and the pain of hundreds of bullets slamming into him. _I deserve to die after this; I wanted to save my friends, not get them killed. I just wish I could have saved them…_ he braced himself.

"Don't shoot, you idiots!"

The giant's shout jolted him, and he looked up in surprise. _What—_

Then he realized: Megan. The giant had said that their objective had been to capture her. If they shot at him, they might hit her, and for some reason they needed her. _I can use this, _he thought. _I can get us out of here!_

Megan was stirring, coming back around. She pushed herself weakly up on her arms, then collapsed back to her elbows. Wally dropped to his knees by her side and helped her to her feet; then, taking Artemis by the hand, pulled her up to stand with them. Megan was still weak, and had to lean on his arm for support.

_Wally? What are you still doing here? Where are the others? _Megan probed, opening a mental link.

_Safe, _he lied. _They're already off. _He forced himself not to think about Robin, about the bullet ripping through him like that; she'd been unconscious, didn't know, and he didn't want her to find out like that.

_Good, _she replied, accepting his lie. _When I say 'now', you and Artemis jump into the water. I'll join you… if I can._

_ No! You're coming with us. There're too many of them._

_ Just do it!_

She cut of the link, not giving him a chance to argue. Then she stepped forward, putting herself in front of them like a shield.

"We had an agreement!" she shouted at the giant man. "I said I would give myself up if you let my friends go. Are you going to break your deal?"

"Megan, no!"

_Shut up, Wally! _she projected to him. _Just get Artemis out of here. I know what I'm doing._

"Your friend has caused too much trouble," the giant said. "He must be punished."

"If you hurt him, the deal's off. You get me; the other two you let go. _Now._"

That was his cue. "Megan, you can't—"

"I said now!"

"But—"

"Just GO!"

Once again he felt himself backed into a corner with nowhere to turn. Feeling like he was being torn in half, he grabbed Artemis by the wrist and they climbed up onto the railing just as the men surged forward to attack Megan.

"Wally, jump, NOW!" she yelled over her shoulder, trying and failing to hold off the tide of gunmen.

He took a deep breath, nodded just once, and they jumped.


	4. Just That Far

**A/N: Sorry for the wait! I rewrote this chapter innumerable times before I was remotely satisfied with it. It's a bit short, but I didn't want to drag it out too much. Anyways, I'm a little apprehensive about this one, I feel like it interrupts the mood of the story but can't seem to make it fit without bogging it down overmuch. Just don't... judge me too harshly. Not too whelmed about reviews on this one, but I'll take what comes. Thanks!**

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><p>Conner drifted far below the surface; he had long since given up trying to swim. If his brain had been working right, he would have wondered why the genomes had neglected to teach him something that suddenly seemed so vital to survival. But the point was moot, because he didn't want to survive anymore. The deep ocean seemed welcoming compared to the world above, a world that was nothing but defeat, and shame, and loss and grief and heartbreak. What was there for him? This was a fitting end to it all. Unnoticed. Ignored. Forgotten.<p>

He felt thin arms wrap around his chest, felt himself rising, being pulled upwards, towards the surface and its light. He had not the strength to protest, but it didn't matter. Whoever was trying to save him, he decided, they were already too late.

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><p>Wally gasped great lungfuls of cold air the instant his head broke the surface. He could hear Artemis choking and spluttering just next to him. His hand felt strangely sore; it took him a moment to realize that he was still clutching her wrist, his fingers clenched so tightly it hurt when he finally pried them loose. She massaged her wrist, lifting it out of the water, while he flexed the muscles in his hand trying to ease the stiffness.<p>

"Are—are you— all right?" he asked, breathing hard. She nodded, but the hollow look in her eyes told him she wasn't. Not really.

The ship was moving fast; in the short time since they'd jumped it had shrunk to a hulking shape in the distance that was rapidly getting smaller as it put more distance between them. _Megan is trapped on that ship, _he thought angrily, _and all we can do is watch it disappear! _

He pushed a button on his com-link. "Kid Flash to Justice League," he said. "Come in, anyone. We need help!"

Nothing. Silence.

With a grunt of frustration he wrenched the com out of his ear. Being submerged in water had shorted it out, making it useless. He flung it away from him, hearing it hit the water with a pitiful _plunk. _

"We n-n-need t-to get b-b-back to sh-shore," Artemis shivered, teeth clenched against the cold. Wally looked at her— her skin had a grayish cast to it and her lips were a dark shade of blue—and realized she was more vulnerable to the cold than he was, because his metabolism kept the extreme temperatures at bay. She was right: not only did they need to get to shore, they needed to get there _fast._

_I'm going to regret this later, _he thought, steeling himself. "Okay," he said to her, "I have an idea. Come here." She swam closer, enough for him to reach her. Struggling to stay afloat, he had her hold on to his shoulders; then he wrapped one arm carefully around her waist and slid the other underneath her knees, so that if they were on solid ground he'd be carrying her. She was shaking so violently it was starting to scare him. "Hang on," he said. _I hope this works. _

Trying not to think about how much he was going to ache if they lived through this, he kicked against the water, pumping his legs as if he were running. Slowly at first (the water seemed to fight him), then picking up speed, they sliced through the water, propelled by Wally's half-swimming, half-running. The water around them was churned into white foam and they were rising as his speed escalated, until he was streaking along the surface, feet moving so fast they were nothing but a blur.

_Half speed, _he judged, dismayed, _and I'm doing twice as much work as I'd have to on land just to get that much. We may not make it… _If he ran himself dry before they got close to shore… _It was this or give up and drown. _He banished all thoughts and poured his whole being into his run.

He headed due west, towards the East Coast. Of more than that he couldn't be sure, but it would have to be good enough.

Artemis was holding on so tightly that he could _feel _the strain of her muscles. She had buried her face in his shoulder, and she was still shaking fiercely—with the cold, certainly, but he thought she could be crying too. Grieving. As he so desperately needed to.

But he couldn't, not yet. So he ran, pushing himself beyond his limits, faster, further, longer, until his strength ebbed dangerously, past the point at which he normally would have collapsed—and still he ran, until he could no longer feel his legs except to know they were still moving. He ran until, at long last, a mountain rose up out of the monotony of the sea, and the shore at its base. _Just that far. Just that—_

He couldn't make it. Without warning, the numbness that had claimed his legs spread through the rest of his body. He collapsed; momentum carried them forward a few more yards, then they were in the water. He was sinking like a stone, and the last thing he heard before his head slipped below the surface was Artemis's scream. Then silence enveloped him and a tide of blackness swept over his vision, and he knew no more.

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><p><strong>Ah, cliffhangers! Gotta love 'em. <strong>


	5. Keep Moving

**A/N: Okay, this is a short chapter, even for me. And I think Artemis is a little off, though I have been assured that it works, so...? Anyway, chapter six will be up within the hour (I hope.)**

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><p>"Wally!" he was dimly aware of someone shouting his name, shaking him roughly. "Wally, come on, you can't sleep! Wake up! Please, wake up!"<p>

He convulsed, coughing violently as water was purged from his lungs. He gasped, choked as coughs racked his body and more and more salty-warm water gushed from his mouth. He was awake now.

The coughing fit subsided, leaving him gasping for breath. He let himself fall back into the sand… _sand? I'm alive! Artemis—_

He opened his eyes, and light flooded into them, blinding him. He squinted, could barely make out a shadow leaning over him. "Artemis…" he murmured.

"Oh, thank God," came her voice. "You're back. I thought— I was so afraid—"

"What—happened? Where are we?" He tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea overcame him. Artemis pushed him back down.

"Just rest. We're somewhere on the coast of Maine… I think."

_Maine? _His brain didn't seem to be working well; hadn't he collapsed _in _the water? "How?" was all he could think to say.

"You got us closer than you thought." Something in her tone changed. "Wally, what you did—it was unbelievable. Not even the Flash—" her voice cracked; she cleared her throat. "Anyways, after you collapsed, I could still see the shore, but you were unconscious. I managed to get you to the surface, and then… I don't know, I was scared out of my wits, I think I was just going on adrenaline after that, but… somehow, I got us here."

"Just like that? We must have been at least a mile from shore, and you swam the whole way with a _deadweight_?"

"You're one to talk! Do you even know how far you ran? On _top _of the water? _Carrying me?"_

"Do _you_?" he said acidly. He realized what they were doing: throwing themselves back into their old habits, desperately trying to find something to bicker about, to restore some sense of normalcy to their suddenly shattered world. But what was the _point_? He didn't really care, not anymore.

Artemis sighed, and he guessed she was thinking along similar lines. He waited for her to say something, a comeback maybe, or maybe she wanted to talk about what had happened, about Robin—but she didn't say a word. When he looked at her, she was sitting with her legs pulled up into her chest, arms wrapped around them and resting her head on her knees. She wasn't crying, she just looked… hollow. Empty, like a shell of her true self. Vulnerable.

He pushed himself into a sitting position, then onto his feet, gritting his teeth against another wave of nausea. "Come on," he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We should get moving." Movement meant distraction; if he stopped moving he would have to face it, the horrible truth, and he wasn't ready, yet. Keep moving.

Artemis could see how much he needed to move; if she was honest with herself, so did she, for she could feel herself slipping into depression as she sat there on the beach. But it was so _hard_, so hard to care anymore, about anything. Seeing her teammate—no, her _friend_—murdered, shot in cold blood; she was shattered on the inside, broken, dull. She couldn't make herself care.

_I thought I was stronger than this, _she thought, but even that caused no stir inside her, no emotion. It was just a thought. It didn't matter.

She forced herself to reach up, to take the hand Wally had offered her and let him pull her to her feet. She would go, she was going to _make _herself care—for Wally's sake, because some distant part of her knew she owed him her life.

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><p><strong>Like I said, Artemis... a little OOC? Chalk it up to trauma or something, because this is how it came out in my head. Review Please!<strong>


	6. Caged

**A/N: ... and this one is even shorter than the last one. I was hoping to write more from Wally & Artemis in this chapter, but there's not enough time before my ortho appointment to finish it. Se la vie. I'll post again tonight. In the meantime, REVIEW PLZ! I love reviews :)**

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><p>M'gann awoke to darkness, the steady <em>drip-dripping <em>sound of water, and a massive pain throbbing at the base of her skull. "Ow," she mumbled and sat up, instantly wishing she hadn't as pain exploded in her head and across the left side of her face. Gingerly she reached up to touch it, carefully running her fingers over the surface of her skin.

A gash stretched from her jaw to her temple, just barely beginning to scab over. The skin around the gash was covered with dried blood, but underneath it she could feel that it was bruised and swollen. It didn't feel remotely like her face anymore. _What did this? How did it happen? _She wondered. Her brain felt fuzzy and slow; she was having trouble concentrating. She ached all over, her arms felt as heavy as lead, and she was so _tired_… but hadn't she just woken up? Where was she? She didn't remember falling asleep, but she was laying down… _on the floor? _She could feel some hard surface underneath her, and wondered about it for another moment before her mind lost interest. Her head was pounding now, all this thinking making it hurt more. Sleep sounded good; she would go back to sleep, and maybe when she woke up she'd be able to think well enough to figure out where she was.

She shifted to a more comfortable position on the floor, which felt to her in her exhausted state like a feather mattress rather than the hard, cold surface it really was.

"Hey!" someone shouted, the sudden sound triggering a splitting pain in her skull. "The Martian's awake! Get the drug!"

She wanted to tell whoever it was to stop shouting, that she was trying to sleep, but she couldn't think straight enough to form words. A loud, rattling _clang_ set her head spinning again, making her want to scream at them to _stop making so much noise_. She just wanted sleep.

She heard voices arguing; then, out of nowhere, she felt something sharp prick her side and a sharp twinge of pain in her ribs. And suddenly she felt nothing. It was bliss: no more pain, no more noise, just sleep, sweet, peaceful sleep taking her at last.

The guard stood in the doorway of the cell and watched the other man give the Martian a shot. The drug was supposed to keep her powers suppressed, but they were using a heavy dose—heavier than what was considered safe—just to be sure. The last thing they wanted was this powerful alien in full command of her abilities; at least, not on her own terms.

One cell over, another captive stirred as the door to M'gann's cell was slammed and locked. Kaldur peered through the bars at M'gann, dismay flooding him at the sight of her bruised and bloody face, her limp form on the floor. _She's here because of me, _he thought. _I have failed my team. _He looked around at the other cells, expecting to see the prone forms of the rest of his teammates, but they were empty. The thought didn't give him any hope, though, because he knew his teammates. He knew his friends, and he knew that they wouldn't just give up on him and M'gann. They would all be caught, all captured; as far as he could see there was no end in sight, no easy way out of this situation. Sooner or later, he knew, someone was going to get hurt.

He was right, already. He just didn't know it yet.

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><p><strong>Finally! Now we know where Kaldur is. Happy? (If you're happy and you know it, please review! Ha ha.)<strong>


	7. Welcome to the Real World

**A/N: Okay, I know it's been awhile (too long!) but moving out/starting school hasn't left much time for actually writing stuff down. I apologize; and here is a longer-ish chapter to sort of make up for it. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed :) hopefully the pace will pick up in the next couple chapters, but I wanted to spend some time on the emotional reactions of the team (what's left of them). I know it drags a little bit, but they're all spiraling into endless despair for heaven's sake! Wanted to really get that across. Let me know how it works! **

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><p>"Hello- Mr. Allen?" Artemis said quietly into the receiver, casting a wary glance over her shoulder. Her costume was attracting some curious looks- too many for her liking - even though she'd left her bow, quiver and mask with Wally.<p>

"Yes," came a slightly muffled reply, "Who is this? Who's calling?"

Artemis took a deep breath. "Mr. Allen, we haven't met, but my name is Artemis. I'm Green Arrow's protégé and I work on the same team as your nephew."

There was a wary pause. "Young lady, I don't know who you are, or who you think you're calling, but you have the wrong person." His voice was cautious, controlled, and calculating. He was lying. Of course, she knew that already.

"Mr. Allen," she said, keeping her voice low and even to hide her rising panic, "I know who you are. Wally told me, and he told me how to reach you. You have to trust me; we need your help."

"Why are you calling me here? Why couldn't you contact the League?" His voice was still wary, but at least he was starting to believe her.

"Our com-links aren't working," she said rapidly, not wanting to give him a chance to reconsider. "This was the only way we could think to get in touch. I'm calling from a gas station." The cashier was giving her covert looks and trying to pretend she wasn't paying attention to every word Artemis was saying.

Another pause; Artemis could hear the Flash breathing heavily. "Do you have any idea," he finally said, his voice hard and strained, "how incredibly dangerous this call could be? Not to mention stupid. What on earth were you thinking?"

The hard edge in his voice surprised her; this was not at all the person she had expected. She always heard the Flash described as impulsive, lighthearted and easygoing; this man sounded as though he were barely in control of his temper.

"Please, Mr. Allen. We've been… compromised." That word… it felt wrong. Too stiff, too unfeeling, too _military. _"We need your help."

He sighed, loudly. "Where are you?"

She told him the name of the town, and said "We need to be picked up."

"All of you? The whole team?"

Artemis suddenly felt sick. "No... Mr. Allen, we need to talk to you in person. It's a long story..." she trailed off, unable to keep her voice steady.

On the other end of the line, Barry could hear the distress in the girl's voice, and panicked. "Did something happen to Wally? Is he okay?"

"No, no, Wally's fine," she said hurriedly. "He's all right, but... something's happened, something awful..." Tears stung her eyes, and she clenched them shut. She couldn't say it. Couldn't. Not like this, not here.

"Stay where you are," he said after a moment. "We'll come get you."

The line went dead. Reluctantly, she hung up the phone, only hesitantly letting it out of her death grip. She mumbled a 'thank-you' to the cashier, who tried to look bored (as if she hadn't just heard every bit of the conversation) and stumbled, dreamlike, out of the station, ignoring the stares of an old couple who passed her on her way out.

She'd left Wally a little ways outside the town, in a sheltered cluster of trees just off the main road. He was sitting on the ground with his back resting against the trunk of one of the bigger trees, one arm curled protectively around her gear. At first she thought he was asleep; it wouldn't have surprised her, given what they had been through. But he was still awake, eyes wide and staring. He glanced up at her once when she bent down to take her things from him, then went back to staring at nothing. His eyes were bloodshot, his face ashen and drawn. She could practically _see_ the fatigue rolling off him in waves, reminding her how tired she was too. Wordlessly she sat down next to him, their shoulders barely brushing. He didn't pull away, and she was relieved when he didn't.

It was too quiet here. Too green. Too peaceful… completely at odds with the grim reality they were facing. _This has to be a dream. _Because this place, with all its natural serenity, couldn't possibly be a part of the real world. The real world, with its guns and cruel men, where six kids in costumes fought for 'justice' and didn't stand a chance; the real world, where you were forced to watch as your friend was shot, killed, murdered, knowing there was no way to stop it; the real world, where in the end, when it mattered most, nobody came to the rescue… Who rescues the rescuers? _No one… _Despair, worse than ever, seized her then, shocked her, paralyzed her. This wasn't something she could forget about and move on. This… this awful _darkness, _the despair, would never leave. No matter how normal things seemed on the outside, she would always feel that gaping hole in the pit of her stomach, telling her that everything was wrong; she almost couldn't breathe, suffocated by reality as it hit her again and again. Robin was dead. Gone, never coming back. Forever.

_How could this happen? Why him, why not me, it should have been me. It was never supposed to come to this… I wish _I _were d-dead… _She had no tears left to cry, only bitterness and despair. And guilt.

Right then, it didn't matter that Wally was there; he might as well have been a ghost. It didn't matter that M'gann and Kaldur were captured, or that Superboy was missing, most likely dead. It didn't even matter that they would soon have to tell the rest of the League about everything, about how everything was so horribly wrong. None of it mattered, and all of it mattered. Because there was no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel, no way to fix this. Nothing but the black taste of despair and the unsettling stillness around her. There was no coming back from this.

No way to fix this.

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><p><strong>Ummm... yeah. Kinda got carried away at the end there. Wally's next! Review :)<strong>


	8. Over and Over

**A/N: Longest. Chapter. Yet. I hope you are all thrilled.**

**For any of you who are still holding out for Robin to somehow come back, allow me to inconsiderately burst your bubble. If a certain description in this chapter doesn't clear up any lingering doubt, well... it'll clear it up. The End.**

**Also, part of this chapter pays tribute to the brother/sister relationship between Hawkgirl and Flash in the Justice League animated series. I know that it was actually Wally as Flash in that continuity, but we're just gonna pretend it's Barry, because whatever my personal feelings about Shayera (not a big fan) I needed another League member for this chapter and I did immensely appreciate the non-romantic friendshippy relationship that Hawkgirl/Flash had in JL/JLU. So there it is.**

**One last thing: I poured my HEART AND SOUL into this chapter, so if I don't get a ton of reviews I'm gonna be devastated. Okay, not really, but please review, I really like knowing what works and what doesn't so I can adjust/improve with time. And it's nice to know people are reading my story...**

**All right, I've talked enough. Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Or Civil Twilight, if you read the author's note at the end.**

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><p>Wally needed sleep desperately. The fatigue was slowly claiming him again, a gray fog that gathered at the corners of his vision, threatening to envelop him. His hands shook; he felt sick to his stomach. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, and his breathing was harsh and ragged. He needed to sleep. But he couldn't.<p>

Because every time he closed his eyes, he saw the whole thing playing in his head, over and over, till he wanted to scream for it to stop. He saw Robin, helpless and struggling, dangling over the side of the ship. Saw the gun, awful, black, shining malevolently. Heard the _crack _of gunfire, saw Robin thrust forward with the force of the bullet, his upper body blown apart by the point-blank shot. Saw him, his body mangled and broken beyond hope, falling…. falling; then slowly sinking beneath the waves. His best friend… his 'little brother'… and he had stood there and watched, and done nothing.

Over and over. He couldn't close his eyes to it, couldn't turn away, couldn't escape. It would haunt him for as long as he lived... How was he supposed to live with himself, live with _this,_ his whole life?

It seemed impossible. He felt like _he _had been the one shot, an awful, painful tightness in his chest that refused to go away, made it nearly impossible to breathe. The thought of sleep, then, was laughable—if there was any such thing as laughter anymore. He wasn't sure there could be.

He didn't think he would ever sleep again.

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><p>Barry was driving. Speeding. Even in a car, normal speed wasn't fast enough for the speedster. Wally and the others had been missing for two days; Barry Allen's only thoughts were relief at finding his nephew and anxiety to get him home. They reached the location the Artemis girl had given them; he slammed on the brakes, barely waiting for the car to screech to a halt before he opened the door and jumped out.<p>

It was growing dark, the sky beginning to turn a sultry magenta. Crickets chirped; there wasn't another soul in sight.

Barry looked around frantically. The girl had said this was where they would be. Where were they?

"There," said Hawkgirl, pointing as she got out on the passenger side. He looked where she was pointing and saw that some of the tall grass had been trampled down, recently if he was judging correctly. The trail of flattened grass led to a small grove of trees. He was there in less than a second, Shayera spreading her wings to follow.

He stopped short when he saw them. Artemis was there, and Wally—he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his nephew was unhurt—but no one else. _What on earth happened to them all?_

Artemis turned to look at him; he expected Wally to do the same, expected to see relief and thanks in both their eyes—but it wasn't there. And Wally didn't even acknowledge that he had noticed his uncle. He stared straight ahead, eyes wide in spite of his obvious fatigue; and Barry saw the stretched, tightened facial muscles, the trembling of his jaw, the look of horror in his eyes—and the fear returned. Artemis had not been exaggerating, or lying, or… he didn't know what. But he knew now: something awful, something truly terrible, had happened. He knew the look in Wally's eyes, and he was afraid. That wasn't a look that should've been in any child's eyes. His nephew wasn't a child anymore; but why? What had done this?

He stood there, staring at the two teenagers with no idea what to do. He felt as though he'd been doused by a bucketful of icy water. Shayera appeared next to him and squeezed his arm reassuringly, then walked past him and extended a hand to Artemis. Hesitantly, the girl took it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet. Shayera didn't know why she did what she did next; maybe she recognized the look in the girl's eyes, recognized it in herself. Letting instinct guide her, she pulled Artemis into a light hug, trying to let her know without words that it was all right now, that she would be okay.

Later, once she learned what happened, she was bitterly glad she hadn't said those words aloud. Because they would have been a lie. It wasn't all right; she wasn't okay, and wouldn't be for a long time.

Artemis didn't return the Thanagarian woman's embrace, and when Hawkgirl released her, she trudged towards the road and the car, her body on autopilot, her head somewhere else entirely. In a world where everything was grief and pain, despair and guilt.

Barry had a harder time with his nephew. He was barely conscious, and he too was lost in another world; in a memory, that awful memory that would haunt him forever, always surfacing when he had a quiet moment. He barely responded to his uncle's touch, barely felt himself being helped to stand, barely let himself be led—dragged—to the car and pushed into the backseat to sit beside Artemis. Neither of them had said a word. Not one. Again Barry wondered what sort of hell they had been through. But he knew well enough that if he asked he would get no answer. Not here. Not now.

Shayera drove this time. She could tell even through the mask how disturbed Barry was by the looks on the children's faces. Even she, the imperturbable warrior who had seen things so much worse, was slightly unnerved. _They're too young, _she thought, _too young to know the kind of sadness that makes people look like they do. _Even so, she was in better control of her emotions than Barry was.

"Two hundred and fifty-three miles to destination," droned the GPS in a choppy female robotic voice. "Approximately four hours and thirty-six minutes."

Shayera hit the mute button. And broke the GPS, sending shards of plastic raining to the floor. No one noticed.

Four hours and thirty-six minutes of complete silence lay ahead of them. And for the two husks in the backseat, the two empty shells that had once been children, vibrant and full of life, it would be four hours and thirty-six minutes more of the nightmare that had swallowed them alive.

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><p>Conner woke up surrounded by glass.<p>

_I'm in my pod at Cadmus. I'm home. None of it really happened; it was all implanted. The team. Superman. The League. School. My friends… _If only he could make himself believe it. Because then, he could pretend that he didn't care, could pretend that that last disastrous mission had never happened. He could pretend that he hadn't watched Robin die. It wasn't real.

He knew better.

_How am I alive? _he wondered. _Maybe I'm… not alive?_ He remembered dying, the agony of drowning, finally succumbing to blackness. Just after someone had…

His head snapped up, eyes fully open now. And what he saw made him think that maybe he really _was _dead. Because this was just too bizarre.

He was in a glass pod. And it was surrounded by water. Schools of colorful fish flitted in and out of his vision. And—strangest of all—on the outside of the glass, completely under water, a girl with dark red hair peered at him with worry in her eyes—as if _he _were the one that needed worrying about. How was she not drowning?

She saw he was awake. Then she spoke. "Garth, he is alive!" she exclaimed in a strange accent. "Come over here!"

_I must be dead, _he thought. Another figure—a young man—swam over to the pod and looked at him, his expression unreadable.

"Where…" Conner started, mildly surprised that he could talk, "Where am I? Is this… real?"

The girl nodded, with a small smile. "Yes, it is. You are alive, though we feared for a long time you wouldn't make it. You are in Atlantis."

Kaldur's home. And Conner thought he knew who his two rescuers must be. "You're Kaldur's friends. The ones he talks about."

The girl nodded again. "My name is Tula. And this is Garth. We've been searching for him since he disappeared, but we found you instead." A note of desperation crept into her voice. "He was on that ship, I know it. Did you… manage to free him?"

Conner felt a sinking in his stomach. "No," he murmured, but he wasn't thinking of Kaldur. "We didn't save him."

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><p><strong>Superboy's alive! What?<strong>

****P.S. if you wanted to know what inspires the total depressing-ness of this entire story, go look up the song 'Human' by Civil Twilight. Discovered it shortly after I started this story, and basically, it made me bawl because in my mind it completely embodies everything I'm trying to put in this story emotionally. Quite serendipitous, actually :) So go listen to it! You will not regret it. Favorite lyric from the song: 'It's only love, it's only pain, it's only fear that runs through my veins... It's all the things you can't explain, that make us human...'**

**Needless to say, I was also listening to the Dark Knight soundtrack while writing this chapter. More bawling. **


	9. Not Much Longer

**A/N: Hey everyone! Normally I would say 'sorry for the wait' but in this case that would be lying. See, I had a sudden epiphany that led to another YJ story that totally took off with my mind and I've been obsessively writing THAT one because I so badly want to know where it's going. I decided to give it a short rest to come back to Fallen Heroes for a few more chapters. I hope you're all very very happy. **

**The third scene of this chapter contains a *VERY IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENT!* I know not much is happening right now, but trust me, the action will start to pick up shortly. I promise. Review (as always)!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice. Guess the guys at DC didn't get my birthday request. Holding out for Christmas now...**

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><p>Barry tolerated their silence as long as he could. But a speedster can only control his impulses for so long.<p>

They were in the main chamber of the Cave inside Mount Justice. Artemis sat on the couch, with her back to the two speedsters, staring at the black TV screen as if she could find all the answers to the universe in it. Wally leaned against the kitchen counter, eyes averted. _I wish they would just _look _at me, _Barry thought. _Would that be so hard?_

Apparently, it would.

He waited for something—anything—from the two of them, but after nothing but silence for who knows how long his patience had run dry. "Okay," he said, trying not to sound like he was scolding them, "tell me everything. What happened? Where are the others? Why did you leave without the League's permission?" _Why won't you tell me what's going on? _

Neither of them seemed inclined to answer. "Wally, please, we need to know what hap—"

"Call Batman," Wally said suddenly, in a voice that sounded nothing like his. "I—we don't want to have to tell it twice."

"Tell what twice? If you're worried about getting in trouble with Batman, just tell me and I can tell him everything later. Or—"

Wally shook his head. "No. Call him and tell him to come. Now. He needs to hear this from us."

Barry wasn't sure whether he wanted to throttle his nephew or hug him. "All right. Have it your way." He made the call. As he did, he snuck a glance at Wally, who was still staring at the floor, and caught just a hint of apprehension in the boy's eyes. Apprehension… and regret. For what seemed like the millionth time, he tried to imagine what on earth these two had been through.

He would find out soon enough. Following the kids' lead, he settled down to wait in silence.

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><p>Conner wanted out. Now.<p>

Partly because he had too many less-than-fond memories of enclosed glass spaces. Partly because he needed to _move, _to get rid of all his pent-up anger and frustration and sadness. Mostly because he wanted to get back to the surface world, find out what had happened to the rest of his teammates. He had to know if his friends were still alive, or if they were sleeping under the waves like Robin. Not knowing would kill him.

If being stuck in this glass bubble didn't kill him first.

He glared at Tula, who was swimming absentmindedly in circles around his pod. His neck ached from trying to keep her in his sight. "Well?" he asked pointedly, trying to get her attention.

"I have told you, you cannot leave until King Orin returns; he is the only one who can authorize access to the portal to your Hall of Justice."

Conner's glare intensified. "How does Kaldur manage to go back and forth between here and the surface so much? He doesn't have to call Aquaman every time he wants to come home, does he?"

Tula shifted her gaze away, trying to avoid his glare. "Kaldur has access to the portals because he was King Orin's partner. But yes, when practical he does call upon King Orin for permission. Out of respect for the King's authority over his borders, you see."

Conner bit back a caustic remark about Atlantean etiquette being too constricting. He was irritated, but he still knew better than to tick off the only person who was remotely interested in helping him at the moment.

Tula could sense his frustration. She pressed a hand to the glass. "Try to relax," she said in her throaty voice. "Garth is even now trying to reach King Orin to tell him of your plight. You will be home soon."

Home. Mount Justice. A cave inside a mountain. Was it really better than a 'test tube'? Especially if Megan wasn't there…

When they were there alone, when the rest of the team wasn't there, the two hardly ever talked. But it was nice to know that if he needed anything, she would be there—in the kitchen, burning another batch of cookies or making a mess while trying to make dinner, or outside, watching a sunset with an innocent smile on her face, or reading books about 'Earth life' because she wanted so badly to fit in. It was nice walking to and from school with her. He wasn't sure he wanted to go back to living in the Cave by himself.

_Then you know what to do, _said a voice in the back of his head. _Save her. Bring her back. And Kaldur too. If they're still alive… _He hoped beyond hope that they were still alive. Wally and Artemis too. He had already lost one friend; was it even possible he could bear to lose another? It was something else to add to the list of things his telepathic education hadn't taught him.

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><p>"Idiots!" she heard someone yell. She was in that sluggish state between sleep and wakefulness. Whoever was shouting, it wasn't going to trouble her overmuch. But she might as well listen; what else was there to do?<p>

"Didn't I say _specifically_ that you were _only_ to administer a _single dose_ of the drug every three hours? Did I not make myself _clear_ enough? What possible reason can you give for _this?_" There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh, and a grunt of pain. "_Idiots!" _the man screamed again. "Do you imbeciles have any _idea _what a triple dose will do to her?"

"Why do you care so much, Doc?" drawled another voice.

Somewhere in the fog of her brain, she realized they were talking about her.

"We just wanted to be sure she wouldn't wake up."

"You're not supposed to turn her into a vegetable; she's no good to us that way! That drug was engineered to very exact specifications to suppress her mental abilities _without causing any damage to her mind!_" There was a very loud sigh. "Luckily for you buffoons, I caught this early enough that no permanent damage has been done. Don't give her any more for now; we'll start fresh tomorrow _with the right dosage._"

"Got it," said the other one, sounding very cowed. "What do we do with the other one?"

"We can't risk him getting anywhere near the water. Just keep him locked up until we reach port." The man laughed. "He can keep her company. Just don't give him any water."

Footsteps; a door slammed. Then silence. She tried to wrap her mind around everything she'd just overheard, but it was too difficult for her mind to grasp. She slipped in and out of consciousness, trying to stay awake. For some reason it was important to stay awake; she just wished she knew _why…_

It was too hard; she let go, drifting slowly back into slumber. The guard hadn't even noticed she was awake. But in the next cell, Kaldur (who had quickly learned to feign sleep when guards were watching) could sense that she was awake, though barely. The effects of the overdose would soon wear off.

Every few nights, as far as he could tell, there would be a small amount of time—perhaps ten or fifteen minutes—during which there was no guard to watch the cells. The thought kept him going now; if the drug wore off quickly, it wouldn't be long before he would get the chance to talk to her, even if only for a few minutes. It would be so nice to hear a friendly voice again.

He didn't know how much longer he would last without water, but it could not be long. He just wanted to hear a friend's voice one last time, before... before it happened.

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><p><strong>*GASP* so melancholy. <strong>

**Go check out my other story World Turned Upside Down! especially if you like this heart-wrenching death fic... :) Cheers!**


	10. The Whole Truth

**A/N: Holy. Freaking. Crap. This is the longest chapter I have EVER submitted in the history of my fanfiction existence. And frankly I don't think it's all that great... but don't worry, the next chapter WILL be better. Heart-wrenching and utterly frustrating to read, but better. **

**Please review- it will make me want to actually update on this story that is beginning to eat my soul. Seriously, I want to be done with this (the last chapter is already written but the in-between stuff is giving me headaches). So... yeah. Let me know what you think.**

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><p>Bruce rushed into the cave, for once with only room enough in the front of his mind for a single thought: <em>Thank goodness. Barry found them, Barry brought them home. <em>

_ They're going to get the telling off of the _century_—_

It was then that he saw them—just the two of them, sitting side by side on the couch— and his hopes plummeted. He thought at first that the others must be around somewhere. The medical bay? Maybe someone had been seriously hurt, and that's why Barry had sounded so cautious over the com-link. But deep down he knew what this was really about. He could see it in their dejected stance, in their despondent faces. He didn't want to admit it to himself. But he knew.

"Talk," he said, but he couldn't muster up the menacing tone he usually hid behind.

Artemis and Wally exchanged a glance, and the young speedster squeezed the archer's hand bracingly. Then he started talking. He spoke in a monotone, a hollow look in his eyes, like he was speaking and trying very hard not to think about what he was saying. He told the Dark Knight everything, exactly as he remembered it. "It all started because Robin decided to go looking for Kaldur himself…"

_"…If you're all too chicken to come with me, I'll just go myself! You guys are no better than the League." Robin was standing in the portal, glaring expectantly at his teammates._

_ Megan was the first to speak. "Robin, the League is already searching for Kaldur. We were told to stay here."_

_ "Yeah, but this isn't like when we're on a mission. This is _Kaldur!_ If it were any of us in his place, you know he would be the first one out there trying to find them. Well, I'm not letting him down, even if _you're _going to."_

_ "Hey!" Wally came to her defense. "There's no reason to be like that. We all want to help too. But the League—"_

_ "Forget the League. They don't know what they're doing."_

_ "And you do?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ Wally goggled at him. "You have a source. Intel. You know where they're keeping him." It wasn't a question._

_ Robin nodded. "I can't say where I got it. But we don't have much time before this window closes; we have to go _now!"

_"I don't know… it all sounds kind of shifty…"_

_ "Does it really matter?" _

_ "Of course it does!" Megan interrupted. "What if your 'source' is lying? It could be a trap. Someone could get hurt!"_

_ "Kaldur's gonna be worse than hurt if we don't get to him soon!"_

_ "Robin, I really think we should contact the League. If you have information they can use—"_

_ Robin looked at his teammates, dismayed. "Fine," he said. "I see how it is. Have fun waiting. I'm going to get Kaldur." _

_He pressed a button on his wrist computer. White light filled the portal, blinding them._

_ "Robin, wait!" _

_ Too late; he was already gone._

_ "We have to go after him," said Artemis from behind them. Wally jumped; he had almost forgotten she was there. He turned to look at her, wondering why she looked so shaken. _

_ "Right," he said decisively, already restless with anticipation. "He'll just get himself in trouble. Superboy, you in?"_

_ "Yeah." No surprise there; everyone could tell how restless Conner was from being cooped up in the Cave for so long._

_ "Megan?"_

_ She bit her lip, still hesitant. "I don't know, Wally… I really think we should wait for the League's say-so before we do anything."_

_ "We don't have time for this!" Artemis snapped. "Megan, we're going, and you're coming with us. Get the bioship ready."_

_ Megan scowled, but she knew better than to argue with Artemis when she was in a mood. Plus, if something was important enough that Wally and Artemis actually agreed on it, she supposed she'd better go along with it. "Fine," she said, and they heard the sound of the bioship waking in the launch bay. "But if we get in trouble with the League, I'm telling them this was _your _idea." _

_ "Fair enough. Can we get going?"…_

"…So we went after him. He hid on that ship before it put out, though, and we were just barely too late to stop him. We followed in the bioship in camouflage mode, but somehow they noticed us and started shooting. They took out the wing and most of the front end; we bailed out and landed on the boat just before the whole thing exploded…"

…_There were a few seconds of entangled confusion immediately following their 'landing'—Artemis nocking an arrow, Wally tense and ready to break into a sprint. An intense look of concentration in Megan's eyes, and Superboy in a fighting stance, fists raised. Wally looked at his teammates, and Artemis, catching his eye, gave a determined nod. _We can do this, _her eyes said, _no problem_. They were outnumbered fifty to one—fairly normal odds in their line of work. He wasn't too worried. "Miss M, can you sense Robin and Aqualad?" he asked. _

_ "Not yet—there're so many minds to sift through."_

_ "Keep searching," he ordered; and to the rest, "Let's take them."_

_ Deep, menacing laughter from behind jarred his concentration. The four heroes whirled around at the noise. _

_The first thing they saw was the giant—eight feet tall, three times as wide as a normal man and with bulging muscles that would shame a Venom-pumped cage fighter._

_ The second was Robin, looking scrawnier than usual against the giant's bulk. A massive arm was curled around the Boy Wonder's neck, so that his feet dangled a foot above the deck. _

_ The third was the gun, pressing into Robin's back..._

"… M'gann tried to bargain with him—she offered to trade herself in if he would let us and Robin go. The rest of us had no idea what she was planning until she walked up to him. She sent us a mental message to tell us not to intervene, but she let us see more than she meant to…"

…Don't mess this up,_ he heard her through the link._ Once you can, take Robin and get out of here. _He could feel how scared she was, and more than that: the desperation, the need to fix everything, the guilt… she felt guilty about not being able to stop Robin from going alone. She had been opposed to this the whole time, and yet she still felt responsible for the whole mess… He wanted to reassure her, to tell her to stop being crazy, but she had closed off the link again._

_ 'As we agreed,' she said, no trace of fear in her voice. _No! _he wanted to yell; he wanted to run at her, drag her back, make her stop—but he could still see the gun, dangerously cocked and pressing into Robin's back. His hazel eyes met Robin's masked ones briefly, and he knew he couldn't move a muscle. Or else Robin was as good as dead… _

"…The giant clubbed M'gann with the gun, just knocked her out. Artemis had to keep Superboy from charging…"

'_Let me go! I'm going to rip him to pieces!'_

_ 'No, you're not!' Artemis snapped, 'If you attack, the rest of them will shoot. We'll all get killed!'_

_ Conner lowered his voice. 'I'm indestructible. They can't kill me with bullets.'_

_ 'Yeah, but in case you haven't noticed, this isn't about you, Superboy. Those guns are pointed at M'gann and Robin. If you as much as move, they're dead. Stand down.'_

_ The giant man laughed. 'Smart move, kiddies. She's absolutely right, if you make a move your friends get it. So don't' – he grinned evilly and cocked his gun – 'move.'_

_ Conner looked sideways at Artemis and Wally, but without Megan to link their minds there was no way they could communicate. _

_ 'Your Martian friend arranged this,' the giant said. 'She insisted that I let the four of you go if she gave herself up as a captive. Lucky for you three, she was the objective in the first place. The Light has no interest in the four of you at this time. So, Miss Martian gets her wish… almost.' He dropped Robin, who collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath; then he crawled to Megan's side and began shaking her. Wally could see his lips moving but couldn't hear his words. _

_ The giant kicked him hard in the stomach, and he fell onto his side, coughing and groaning. It was all Wally could do to keep from running to his friend's side, but he dared not move. The man reached down with a colossal hand and lifted Robin by his hair; Robin screamed in pain, arms flailing and legs kicking out wildly. Watch closely,' the giant barked at the other three. 'We're going to let you go, but first you have to be taught a lesson, so you don't get any ideas about rescue missions. If we catch you again, there will be no mercy.' Slowly, deliberately, he strode to the port side railing…_

"… We couldn't do anything. We… we just watched…"

_ …Robin's body arced as the bullet ripped through him; he didn't even have a chance to scream. And then he was falling, as if in slow motion, and Wally knew he would never forget the sight of his friend's ruined body, the shock etched on his face as the life flooded out of him even as he fell; the dull slap as his body hit the water with little more than a splash. Those things would stay with him, haunt him, until his dying day…_

"…Superboy was thrown overboard. I… I tried to save M'gann, but she ended up saving us, covering our backs while we jumped into the water. We never found Conner; it was all we could do just to get ourselves back to shore." His throat felt dry, like every word was scraping against the inside of his throat as it was dragged painfully out of him. He relived every second, every instant of hopelessness and despair and grief and guilt, as he told the story. It hurt. To say those words, to admit that it had really happened. Saying it aloud made it final; no taking it back.

But this was Batman. He needed to know what had happened to his sidekick—no, his partner. He needed the whole story. The whole truth.

He felt a hand rest heavily on his shoulder, and looked up wearily to see his uncle standing beside him. Barry squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, but Wally shrugged him off. He wasn't ready for comfort; not even from Uncle Barry.

Batman hadn't said a word. Hadn't made a sound. Wally was afraid to look up, afraid of what he might see. Anger from the Dark Knight was normal. Annoyance and disdain, frequent. Occasionally he was patronizing. Praise was rare. Wally didn't know if he could handle seeing grief or sadness there. He didn't know if the man was capable. _Of course he is,_ said a scolding voice in his head. _He's human. He has every right to those feelings._

Wally didn't want to see a grieving Batman. Give him anger, blame him; he could handle that. But sadness, despair… he didn't think he could handle that. The sky was already threatening to fall on him; reality was already warped beyond belief. One more shock might be too much.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. Slowly, painstakingly, he lifted his gaze to meet the Dark Knight's.

Only Batman wasn't looking at him. Wasn't looking at anyone.

_He's in shock, _Wally realized. _But… but _nothing _surprises him…_

Wally expected him to snap at any second; to fly at him in a rage, demanding the truth—any truth so long as it wasn't this. But when he snapped, it wasn't Wally he yelled at.

He rounded on Artemis, causing her to flinch at the fury in his masked face, and bellowed, "_How did you let this happen?"_

* * *

><p><strong>dot dot dot, what? Why does Bruce blame Artemis? Wally is dying to know... but he might not be able to handle it if he finds out...<strong>

**If you have a minute, you should go check out my other YJ deathfic, called 'World Turned Upside Down', because in my opinion it is infinitely better than this one. Cheers!**


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